Hello All,
I've been in desperate need for a dedicated gaming PC for a while, but like many other people nowadays, I'm in no position to dish out $1000+ on a PC up front. It's been a while since Logan has put out a "Build-a-PC" video, so I'm a bit lost in the sea of options I have to build a cheap gaming PC. I'm still going off of the idea that an APU based build is the way to go for a very inexpensive machine, and I'll have the opportunity to add a dedicated GPU later down the road. This leads me to my first question: Would my APU and GPU work like a duel GPU machine, or would the GPU take on all the work of graphics processing?
Secondly, Logan mentioned using a Micro-ATX motherboard for his budget PC build recommendation (Link). Question 2: Is a Micro-ATX board cheaper than a conventional board? Would it mean I could buy a Mico-ATX case which is cheaper than a mid-tower case? What benefits does using a smaller board have over using a regular board as far as a budget PC is concerned? It doesn't matter to me whether or not I have a small or large case/computer; it only matters how it affects the performance of my machine.
Lastly: Are APUs still as cost effective as they use to be? What equivalent GPU power does an APU provide? At what point does getting a seperate GPU/CPU become better than an APU?
Thanks in Advance,
Xhai
1. if you get a 6670 (trinity/richland) or 7750 (richland) you can crossfire, any other cards will run independantly of the integrated graphics (for a10's)
2. there's really no difference other than size and how many ram/pci/pcie slots it can fit, you're generally looking at pretty simmilar prices, performance has more to do with chipset and vrm stuff not size
3. i'd say so, i generally only reccomend them if you don't have much money and aren't going to upgrade/ be putting any more money into it
4. i'd estimate roughly a 6670
5. for power, even a phenom + 7770 (very common low end setup) will beat an a10, for price i say $500 or less is apu territory, any more and unless you're getting an ssd you're doing something wrong
some people don't get that a $800 machine with an 8320 and 7950 and an $800 machine with a a10 and 6670 cost the same ammount regardless how much you tell yourself you're saving money (not saying that's what you're thinking, but i've come across that more than once)
1. Are those really the only GPUs you can run in crossfire with the APUs, or are those the only one's you know will run in crossfire with the A-10 model specfically?
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6. Which would be more powerful though? I'm assuming the one with the 8320 & 7950, but the way you phrase it makes me think people are getting the A-10 because they dont sacrifice power but think it's more cost-effective.
http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/dual-graphics/Pages/dual-graphics.aspx#/3 (dektop tab) (also, though it doesn't say it, it's possible to cf a a10 6800k w/ a 7750), a10's are generally the only thing reccomended around here as they're the most powerful of the apu's, but an a8 is pretty powerful if you're trying to shave costs as much as possible
the other system would absolutly destroy the a10, but i was saying some people have convinced themselves that the apu is cheaper, so they buy it even if they could do much better for the money, and turn down better builds for the same price, "because the apu is cheaper"
I'm pretty unfamiliar with how crossfire works, so I'll be reading up on that soon. Thanks for the recommendations; I got some math and price checking to do. <3